looking for a special wine ready to drink now!

[newsguy]

my 40th birthday is next week. since it seems my wife isn't doing it, i'm hoping to find a really nice bottle of wine to go with a great filet or porterhouse that will be my 40th birthday dinner. OK, so i'll be buying the wine for myself and cooking the dinner for myself. but you don't hear me complaining ;-) i can appreciate a good bordeaux, shiraz, zin, CDR, chianti, etc., but my preference always is for california cabs. anyone recommend a bottle for $40-50 that i can actually find in a wine store that would be ready to drink now, but still offer that special experience? i know it's a tall order, but i bet you folks will have some suggestions. thanks!

[wondersofwine]

I'm far from an expert on cabernets but I liked the Sequoia Grove 1998 c.s. which is ready for drinking now. The 1999 should have more intense fruit and tannins (Indian summer weather) but would be better given a few more years in bottle. I've recently tried a number of good 1999 and 2000 Australian shiraz including the bargain-priced Marquis Philips' Shiraz, the hard-to-find Henry's Drive (also from Sparky Marquis), the Sarah's Blend (cabernet sauvignon blend), (Sarah Marquis) Tin Shed Single Wire Shiraz, and Jones "LJ" Shiraz. The 1997 California cabs that have been really hyped are probably no longer easy to find or need more aging time.
A couple 98's I have tried are more approachable now but not worthy of aging. Hope somebody else steps in with recommendations if WW is offline.

[Glass_A_Day]

Napanook puts out a great second labeling of Dominus. I had a bottle of 1997 Cab a few weeks ago. It was wonderful and got rave reviews at the dinner party I brought it to. The price tag of $40. is in your range and is on par with its quality.

[This message has been edited by Glass_A_Day (edited 07-31-2002).]

[satu largi]

If you can access Australian wines, and it sounds like you can, there are any number of great Cabanets, the climate is perfect for this grape type: Clare Valley Taylors, and All Saints are my favorites, even the cheapie Banrock Station is good.

[winoweenie]

NewsManzarino you must have missed my post about 1-2 months ago. The 1999 Pine Ridge Rutherford Disrct Cab is one of the finest young wines I've experienced. About 30 bucks and will FILL the bill. WW ( HAPPY,HAPPY Ole bean )

[RAD]

Couldn't agree more with WW, but if you can't find the Pine Ridge Rutherford, for just a few bucks more, the 99 Joseph Phelps cab (~$38-40) is some deeee-lish juice.

RAD